Baby basket and support



Oct. 11, 1932. E. G. HOCH E'r Al.A 1,881,579

BABY BASKET AND SUPPORT Filed March 15. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l j /7 57 La) /7 1 Z/ x Mmxg I l Z5 Z7 I /6 v Z7 /3/ 2].5

/OCL 11, 1932. Y Q HOCH ET AL 1,881,579

BABY BASKET AND SUPPORT 'Filed March 15, 1929 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented ct. 11, 1932 f Umrao ,STATES PATENT OFFICE IEIII'DARII?y Gr. HOCH AND JOHN A. LEVERING, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNORS TOKOZEKAE, INC., .OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, .A CORPORATION OF MINNESOTA nABY :BASKET AND SUPPORT vApplication filed March 15, 195429. Serial No. 347,289.

(Ju-r .invention .relates .particularly to baby cwruiageszof ithe type 'wherein both the run- :gear and the :basket-like body .are leapable of being-=co1lapsed or .folded in .flat Y toirnfxatiomfor the more convenient handling, carryingzozr storage, and .generally-stated, the invention oonsistsfof .the novel devices, combinations `Yof devices and varrangement of pants hereinafter ydescribed and defined in 'the'claims A babycarriage ofjthe character justfabove referred to is disclosedand broadlyclaimed in UnitedStates lPatent No. 1,596,- 283, 'of August 17, .1926, entitled Folding baby :carriage7 granted to Julius A. Mahr. A. basketflikefbody 4such -as-'disclosed lin the said prior Mahr patent is capable of being carried. bythe running gear ofthe baby carriage orto be hungas'a hammock from suitable :supports -on fan automobile, butif removed )from fboth `of :the above noted types ofsupports andset upon .thesfioon the bod-y .orbasket @Wouldcollapse and, moreover, its bottom, 'Which is flexibleas .Wellas its Walls, itswvallsfbeingfusuallyimade of canvas, .would rest upon-'fthe door. f I

.The 'present .invention iimproves the Vconstruction of 'the collapsible basket Yor body and provides Va :basket vwhich lWhile capable .of `being Vcollapsed :or folded iiat, when de-` .siredvvill normally be held,-againstcollaps Ving or folding even When'set aipon a floor andwhen'so fsetupon a door or similar support,;-Willf =have yits kflexible bottom proper suspended above'the-floor'so that it Will-affordra cushion base for carrying .the .baby .orchild :In 1 the z accompanying drawings, `which illustrate the invention in its presentV commereia-l form,fliket characters indicate 2lilreparts throughout fthe several views.

.'Referringrto i the drawings Fig. 1 isa perspective showing'the -im- .proved 'basket .or :body ifsupported by: a collapsiblefrunningggear such as that'disclosed intheprior Mahr patent, above videntified f. .Fig .2 Ais a perspective showing the basket removed from the running, gearand set upon thewfloor, some p. parts being brokenaway i ,"Fig." Slis anenla-rged .fragmentary A,section .1 takenonthe'lineSA-"S of AFigQ Fig. 4 is a perspective showing the foldable basket-supporting base removed from the Ibasketz;

Fig. .5 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken approximatelyonthe line 55 of Fig. 1, looking upward;

Fig. 6 isa section taken Von the irregular line 6 6 of Fig. 5, the said parts .being turned yright side up;

F ig. 7 is a fragmentary end view showing .parts found -in the vicinity ofthe linemarked 7-7 on Fig. 2.;

Fig. 8 isa plan -vieW -of one of the upper spreader rim sections ofthe collapsible bashet; and

Fig. 9 is a view corresponding to Fig. 8, but illustrating a slightly modified construction.

The folding running gear here illustrated andlwhich is lsubstantially like that ofthe prior Mahr patentv above identified,-includes afreach 10, a pair of Vposts 11, afpairof couplings 12, and two pairs of radius rods l1 3, theouter -ends iof each Ipair being Lben-tout- Wardly into axial alignment to afford stub axles on yWhichthe Wheels 1.4 are -journaled. The radius lrods 13 are foldably connected by togglesl. vAt their upper ends, the posts 11 are provided With handles 16 and .With upstanding hanger hooks 41.7.

, For thevpurpose .of ,this case, it is notnecessary to further trace fthe. operation ordetail construetionof the running gear proper for the same is fully disclosed yinsaidprior Mahr patent and,-moreo.ver, lthe-present invention is not limited toanyvspecilic forinof running gear. It may, however, he .stated that when outof use,-the Wheelsof the running gear: maybe folded 'togethersubstantially-intheplane offthe reach 1() and thevposts ll! can .-beturned over into `the vlongitudinal Zone ofthe .-reach, thereby forming a `very compact close structure 1 Thebody ofthe basket or collapsible vbody ispreferably made of convas, drilling or other suitable .fabric,.the side-.formi ng .portion of Whichis. indicated:bythenumeral 18 and the bottom portion-.oflwhich is indicated'by the numeral 19. The vbottom =19 Vis held ina spread. out condition by a marginal spreader lll) rod 20, preferably set into a hem formed therein. The upper edge of the side-forming canvas 18 is formed with a hem 21 into the curved end portions of which is inserted a U- shaped spreader rod 22. rlhe lower rod 2O affords a continuous bottom spreader rim while the two U-shaped rods -22 afford an upper sectional spreader rim and give lateral flexibility to the upper side portions of the basket. W hen otherwise unsupported, the basketV may be collapsed.' and folded `flatwise by pressing together the upper and lower spreader rims. Y

As a means for supporting the basket from the hooks 17 lof the running gear post, there is provided a pair of'coupling links 23, the outer ends of which are perforated to engage with the hooks 17-and the inner ends of which are formed with hooks 2li thatA are detachably engageable with portions vof the spreader rim sections 22 that are exposed at the eXtreme ends of the basket bycutting awayvportions of the canvas sidewalls 18, as shown at 18a. To prevent lateral slipping of the hooks 24 on the rods or sections 22 the latter are preferably formed with ribs 22a and the hooks 24C are bifurcated at 24a to straddle said flanges.

Y As an important feature of this invention,

so is illustrated in the drawings, see particularly Fig. 4. This base comprises a marginal i base rim preferably formed froma quitefstiff there-'is provided a detachable basket-supporting base, thepreferred form ofwhich but resilient steelrrod 25 bent into oblong formation and provided at the extremes' ofthe l oblong with upstandingU-shaped abutments 26. rAdjacent the abutments 26, basket-supporting standards are foldably applied to theVv supporting base 25. These-standards, as shown, are formed each from a pair of rods 27 Arigidly Vconnected at their' intermediate portions, but pivotally lconnected atr the lower ends Vof vtheir prongs to thesupporting base 25 by loopsv 28 located close to the respective abutments 26. Attheir upper ends of lthe prongs, the standards'27 are formed withL outturned hooks 29that are engagea-ble with the exposedv portions of the upper spreader V rim sections 22, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 5.

The preferred arrangement ofthe parts just described-is as follows Normally, the substantially parallel sides 'ofthe base 25 are slightlybowed upward and the standards 27 when turned against the abutments 26 will be spread at their upper ends considerably farther apart than the dis- 'tance betweenthe two exposed portions of the upper spreader rimsections 22. For the application ofthe hooks 29 to the exposed portions of said rim sections22,ithe standards 2,7.by being forced against the abutments r26 .may Vbe moved towardeach other far enough to permit theengagement of their hooks `29 with the 'exposed portions of the rim' sections 22.Y lVhenthefstandards are thus interlocked `to the rim sections 22, they Will be held.

such interlocking engagement by a very conp the downward springing of the sides of the base 25l could be increased to such an extent that theywouldalford rockers permitting endwise rocking movement of the basket on thefioor. lWhen the; supporting base is applied tothe basket,the basket with the base i can be removed from all suspending supports and set upon the floorland thebasewill then support the basket with'its fleXible Vbottom well above the lfloor. To add to the appearvance of the basket when thus used, it is shown as provided with a. depending skirt 30 which, as shown, has y,loose flaps 31: adapted toY be buttoned or fastened around the lowery portions ofthe applied standards 27. `The applied standardsnotonly support the -basket above the floor, but positively holdthe top and bottom portions of the basketextended vertically so that the basketcannotbe collapsed.' l l n When the basket is to be :collapsed or folded, the standards27 are Vdetached and turned intov the plane ofthe base 25 by outward pivot-al movement, yas shown by dotted'lines in Fig. 4, and then, of course, the basket-can be collapsed intothe flat formation. The bottom of the basket may be appliedfwith straps 82'and 33. for connection, respectively, tothe reach 10 and to .thel base 25, to prevent oscillation of the`basket,1butrthese straps are not an important feature ofthe invention and may be dispensed withvwhen desired. Thenumerali indicates a hood applied to the basket and which also constitutes no part of the Present invention. l VThe baskets, with their supporting bases will frequently be sold for use as complete devices and without any especial'. adaptation vfor application to the running gear and, in

such arrangement, lthe upper spreader 'rim sections 22, instead of havingthe narrow ribs 22a, maybe provided with wider'bulged portions Y22b that willV engage between the upper hooks 29 of the standards 27 to prevent hit-eralV slipping of the basketin respect to the standards. Y Y i S i ln actual practice, this improved basket with its supporting base has been Vfound to be a very convenient device. As preferably designed, it can be supportedlasa sort of-.hammock not only fromthe posts or'uprightslof a running gearthereby'forming a complete baby carriage, butmay beV supported from suitable'hooks or straps Vapplied within an disclosed and claimed.

What we claim is:

1. A support for use with a collapsible baby basket having upper and lower portions reinforced by spreader means, comprising a base having standards detachably engageable with the upper spreader means at the ends of the basket and supporting said basket with its bottom above said base, said base having abutments limiting the upward movement of said standards toward each other and putting the same under stress when engaged to support said basket, said standards being pivotally movable outward and downward and foldable into the plane of said base.

2. A support for use with a collapsible baby basketv having a marginal spreader rim in its bottom and in the end portions of its top having marginal spreader rim sections, comprising a supporting base formed from a rod bent into oblong form with upstanding abutments at the front and rear portions thereof, and standards pivoted on said baseforming rod and movable upward and inward'against said abutments, said standards at their upper ends havinghooks detachably engageable with intermediate portions of the upper spreader rim sections of said basket.

rear reinforcing spreader means of said bas ket and support the basket with its bottom above said base, said standards being pivoted to said base, said base having abutments against which said standards will be pressed, whilek engaging said spreader means, with sufiicient force to spring the base structure and maintain an outward stretching pressure between opposite ends of said basket.

5. A support for baby baskets comprising a base-forming rod bent into oblong form with upstanding abutments at its front and rear end portions, and standards pivoted to the base-forming rod and movable pivotally from an inoperative position in the plane of and within said base, downward, outward and upward to an operative position against said abutments.

6. A support for baskets comprising a baseforming'rod bent to form a continuous base member with upstanding abutments at opposed points, and standards pivoted to said base and movable pivotally from an operative position wherein said standards are approximately in the plane of and within said base downward, outward and upward against said abutments.

7. A support for baby baskets comprising an oblong base formed at its opposite end portions with upstanding abutments and standards pivoted to said base and movable from an inoperative position approximately in the plane of said base to an upstanding position against said abutments.

In testimony whereof we aix our sigl natures.

JOHN A. LEVERING. EDWARD G. HOCH.

3. A support for vuse with a collapsible the said parts being so arranged that said standards, in their engagement to support said basket, will cause. the intermediate side portions of said base-forming rod to spring downward and the hooks of said standards to Vbe held in vinterlocking engagement with said upper spreader rim sections.

4. A support for use with a baby basket provided with reinforcing spreader means Vat its front and rear upper ends, comprising a supporting base, and standards adapted to detachably connect said base to the front and 

